The MAya

Directions: The Maya built an extraordinary civilization in the heart of Mesoamerica. After
learning about Mayan civilization, paste in a picture that you feel best represents the
Mayans then complete the graphic organizer.

Location Religion Science & Culture

The Maya civilization Mayan religion was The Maya made

thrived in southern Mexico, complex, focusing on a advancements in
Guatemala, Belize, pantheon of gods mathematics, astronomy,
Honduras, and El Salvador. associated with nature, architecture, art, and
Their cities were celestial bodies, and writing. They developed
strategically located near human activities. Rituals, hieroglyphic writing,
water sources, enabling including bloodletting and invented zero, and had
agriculture and trade. sacrifice, honored these accurate calendars. Their
Why do you believe Maya
Notable cities include deities. They believed in architecture featured
Civilization declined?
Tikal, Palenque, Copán, cyclical time and spiritual pyramids, temples, and
and Chichen Itza. interconnectedness. ball courts, adorned with
intricate carvings. Maya
art included pottery, jade
carvings, textiles, and
murals depicting religious
and everyday life scenes.
 The AzTecS
Directions: The greatest empire of Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, developed in the Valley of
Mexico where modern Mexico City is located. After learning about the Aztecs, complete the
round graphic organizer (patterned after famous the zctec Calendar) below with notes on
Religion each aspect of Aztec Society. Then paste a picture in the center to represent the Aztecs.
Stratified
Aztec Society
Central to Aztec society, with gods into noble
artisans, s,
governing life aspects. Human sacrifice and slave commoners,
appeased gods. Major deities: privileges s. Nobles
,c had
Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and economy ommoners contrib
, ar uted to th
Quetzalcoatl, god of creation and slave tisans specialize e
s perform d in craft
ed manu s,
The Triple Allia al labor.
nce
Science & Technology
re,
Formed by T Advanced in agricultu
enochtitlan, ed ici ne. Utilized
Tlacopan, e Texcoco, an engineering, and m
nabled Azte d ing, and
dominance. c expansion a irrigation, terraced farm
nd essive
chinampas. Built impr
s and
structures like pyramid
temples.
Tenochtitlan
Government
ni)
ic a l, w ith an e mperor (tlatoa Magnificent capital built on an island in
Hierarch rs held
. No b le s , p ri e sts, and warrio ith
Lake Texcoco. Organized around the
atop in T enochtitlan, w sacred Aztec calendar. Featured grand
n tra liz e d
power. Ce ing
fficials manag temples, markets, and ceremonial plazas.
districts and o
governance.
 The InCa EmPirE Society
Stratified into nobles,
commoners, and slaves.
Directions: The Inca were a powerful
civilization that developed in the Andes Nobles had privileges,
Mountains of South America. After learning commoners worked in
about the Inca and their civilization, use agriculture and crafts, and
the “scribble” tool to color in their territory slaves served the elite.
on the map. Then take notes in each box
about Incan society.

Centralized under the Sapa Inca, who Impact of Geography

Government

held absolute power. Nobles and

bureaucrats assisted in governing Andes Mountains influenced
provinces agriculture, trade, and
defense. Sophisticated
techniques like terracing and
road networks developed to
Deeply religious, worshipping gods navigate rugged terrain.
Religion

like Inti, the sun god. Rulers

considered divine, with ceremonies
and sacrifices to honor gods.
 Maya
ComPAriNg The All three civilizations had complex
religious beliefs and practices, including

MayA, azTEc, & InCa

the worship of multiple gods and
goddesses. Human sacrifice was a
common ritual across these civilizations,
though the specifics varied. Agriculture
was crucial to the economies of the
Aztec, Inca, and Maya. They developed
advanced farming techniques suited to
Directions: After learning about the their respective environments, such as

c
Azte
terracing, irrigation, and the cultivation of

Inca
Aztec, Inca, and Mayan people 3 staple crops like maize (corn).
most dominant Mesoamerican ...
civilizations, complete the Venn
Diagram below with similarities and The Aztec civilization thrived in
differences of each. The Maya developed a complex
central Mexico, the Inca in the
hieroglyphic writing system used
Andes Mountains of South for recording historical events,
America, and the Maya in the religious rituals, and astronomical
tropical rainforests of ... observations. The Aztecs used a
Mesoamerica. This difference in combination of pictograms and
geography influenced their ideograms in their writing system,
environments, resources, and while the Inca had a system of
interactions with neighboring knotted cords called quipus for
cultures record-keeping, but they did not
have a fully developed writing
system like the Maya.